Tag / compelling instruction

In today's edition of thank goodness people are generous, I bring you the best new idea I didn't think of, and basically didn't understand until I saw it in action: Running Dictation. To give credit where it is due, I have to thank Martina Bex, who got it from Michele Whaley, who got it from Jason Fritze. What is running dictation? A great activity for my energetic and squirrely freshmen in Spanish 1, although clearly would be great at any level (I can't wait to try this with my 4's next...

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In a workshop recently, Mike Coxon said he was told by a professor that the key to success in education was "CASE:  Copy And Steal Everything".

Of course, you want to make sure to give credit where it is due and respect other teachers' copyrights and intellectual property.  So in this first homage to that philosophy, I bring you the best new thing I've stolen--Strip Bingo.

No.  Not THAT kind of strip.  Although kids will appreciate that name! It's funny!  But be careful if you send a bunch of kids home telling their parents that they played Strip Bingo in class...could...

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At the start of every school year, I find myself faced with a dilemma.  No, not what to teach.  See my post on How I started the year to see why that isn't a stressor for me.  My dilemma surrounds my syllabus.  Syllabi. I know there is important information I want students to know.  I know that students don't want to read a long document.  These are 21st century kids.  Snapchat kids.  Twitter kids.  They want fast, brief information.  How can my grading practices possibly be described in 140 characters.  Well, okay,...

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